Many schools use Chromebooks along with G Suite for Education to manage all the applications they need. It’s really handy as you can switch on and off different apps for different types of users, known as Organisational Units. In my school, for example, we have Organisational Units for Staff and Pupils. These are further broken up into classes so that infants see different software to 6th class pupils, for example. Many Chromebooks allow Android apps to be installed on them. This is because both Chrome OS and Android are both made by Google and they seem to be reasonably compatible with each other.
However, can you manage Android Tablets using G suite Management Console? The answer to this appears to be yes. The following Google Help Page goes step by step through the process: https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/9412115?hl=en
I assume this only works with certain Android Tablets, and I would guess it doesn’t work with very cheap Android tablets and possibly doesn’t work if the Android tablet has been modified by a manufacturer. For example, if you have an Android mobile phone, different brands have tweaked the operating system to suit their own brand. That’s why a Samsung phone and a Huawei phone don’t work exactly like each other.
I guess the next question is why you would want Android tablets and the answer is probably that some children work better on tablets than they do on Chromebooks. A touchscreen is a very useful thing. However, as well as this, the interface can be easier for some children to navigate. I’d advise checking if the model of Android Tablet you are getting is compatible with the G Suite Management console. There are so many brands of Android tablets and their functionality changes all the time that it would be impossible to list them here.
Last Update: November 13, 2020